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Io Shirai
In March 2017, Shirai took part in a WWE tryout at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. After the tryout, Shirai confirmed that she had been offered a contract. Shirai made her first official appearance for the promotion on June 30, 2018 at the WWE house show in Ryogoku Kokugikan, where it was announced she had signed with the promotion and would be competing in their developmental territory, NXT. In July, it was announced that Shirai would participate in the second Mae Young Classic tournament. On August 8, Shirai defeated Xia Brookside in the tournament's first round in her WWE debut match. The following day, on August 9, Shirai defeated Zeuxis in the second round, Deonna Purrazzo in the quarterfinals and Rhea Ripley in the semi–finals to advance to the finals of the tournament, that took place at WWE Evolution, on October 28, where Shirai was defeated by Toni Storm. In her first appearance for NXT, Shirai debuted on November 17, 2018, at the NXT TakeOver: WarGames event where she and Dakota Kai saved her best friend Kairi Sane during her match with Shayna Baszler from an assault by her allies Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. On the December 19 episode of NXT, in what was her television debut, Shirai teamed with Kai as the two defeated Duke and Shafir in a tag team match, and because of her win, a week later, Shirai competed in a fatal–four way match to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship, however, the match was won by Bianca Belair. Shortly after, with Kai sidelined with an injury, Shirai continued to team with Sane, forming a tag team known as "The Sky Pirates" while continuing to defeat various teams. On April 5, 2019, at NXT TakeOver: New York, Shirai took part in a fatal–four way match for the NXT Women's Championship, however, she was unsuccessful in capturing the title as Baszler submitted Bianca Belair to retain the title. Just six days later on April 11 (episode aired on tape delay on April 17), Shirai interfered in Sane's rematch with Baszler and attacked her as she was looking to injure Sane, resulting in a disqualification loss for Sane. As a result, Sane was not allowed to challenge for the NXT Women's Championship anymore, which was a way to write her off the brand. After Sane left the brand, Shirai continued to feud with Baszler, Duke and Shafir as the three continuously attacked her. This ultimately led to a title match between the two, that took place at NXT TakeOver: XXV on June 1, where Shirai was unsuccessful despite Candice LeRae helping Shirai by attacking Duke and Shafir with a kendo stick. After the match, she attacked Baszler with the kendo stick and a steel chair. This led to a steel cage match between the two, that took place on the June 26 episode of NXT, where Shirai once again failed to capture the title from Baszler, despite LeRae again helping her by taking out Duke and Shafir. Shirai then attacked LeRae herself after the match, turning heel for the first time in WWE. In the following weeks, Shirai developed a new image and began wearing black leather while continued to feud with LeRae. On June 30 edition of NXT, LeRae challenged Shirai to a singles match at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, where she was successful.Category:NXT Superstars